Alkylbenzene sulfonate

Along with sodium laureth sulfate, they are one of the oldest and most widely used synthetic detergents and may be found in numerous personal-care products (soaps, shampoos, toothpaste etc.)

[4] Compared to traditional soaps, BAS offered superior tolerance to hard water and better foaming.

[8] As such, BAS was phased out of most detergent products during the 1960s, being replaced with linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS), which biodegrade much more rapidly.

[2] In the most common route benzene is alkylated by long chain monoalkenes (e.g. dodecene) using hydrogen fluoride as a catalyst.

[12] Within LAS itself the detergency of the various isomers are fairly similar,[13][14] however their physical properties (Krafft point, foaming etc.)

It is biodegraded rapidly under aerobic conditions with a half-life of approximately 1–3 weeks;[18] oxidative degradation initiates at the alkyl chain.